LADYDRAGON.COM - PENNY RACERS

2 years after the release of Mario Kart 64, the publisher THQ and the developer Takara release a game from the same line than the last one : Penny Racers. This game doesn't really have a story. All you have to do is to choose your car, the track of your choice (there is no particular order) and try to finish first to win new upgrades and new cars. The objective of this game is to be in first place on all the track.

This game is a very traditional racing game. You can change your class by obtaining a certain position in every track. You have weapons for your defense and to help you to finish the race first. There is a total of 13 cars, from sports cars to big trucks. 9 normal tracks are in this game and, with the build your own track option, there is an infinite number of track that you can build. You can then use those tracks in the option multiplayer (2 to 4 players) or you can to them alone.

The main idea of this game is not really original, it remains a simple racing game. The graphics are a little to like a cartoon, they are not extraordinary. The weapons are very ordinary et some of them are not useful. The control is very difficult to assimilate when you start but becomes more easy with the upgrades.

The cars all look alike

"Ready.. get set.. GO!"

The menu screens is difficult to understand and to manipulate. The music doesn't bring anything new and the horn becomes tiring after a period of time. One of the best innovations of this game is the option that let you create your tracks. Because of this option, you can let go your imagination and create tracks of your own choice to use them in multipayer mode or alone

. You can even bring them to your friend's house with the controller pak. The lifespan of the game is very high because of this mode and the multiplayer mode. Another innovation is that you can steal the cars of your enemies or their upgrades so it is very different than the others racing games. The artificial intelligent is excellent : after you have attack an enemy, he will be more aggressive and he can calm down after a period of time or he can continue to attack you for the rest of the course.

Finally, if you like Mario Kart and you are full of imagination, this game could easily please you. You can pass a lot of hours to create tracks, to try them and to ameliorate them. But unfortunately, the graphics are not incredible. So if the Mario Kart game is not your kind of game, you will probably not liked this one because it is a poor copy of the last one.

Companies
THQ
www.thq.com

TAKARA

Category
Racing

NOTES

Interest : 75 %
Control : 70 %
Graphics : 70 %
Sound/Music : 70 %
Originality : 75 %

TOTAL : 72 %

Requirements

Console
Nintendo 64

Accessories
Compatible with the Controller Pak

Number of Players
to 4 players simultaneously

ESRB Ratings
E (All Ages)